Catherine Long explores the physicality of paint and the expressive power of colour. Drawing from her background in Contemporary Dance, Long's work channels movement into mark-making, where the sweep of the arm and the rhythm of the body become integral to the act of painting.
Central to Catherine Long's practice is an exploration of how colour and form can evoke sensation and mood. In her oil paintings, luminous passages of soft oranges, yellows, and smudged teal collide with deeper, earthier tones and more forceful gestures. There is an ongoing push and pull between opacity and transparency, density and breath - a rhythm that echoes her training in dance. Long builds-up the paint in a way that mirrors the body's own accumulations of experience. Each surface becomes a script of movement and revision, where traces of earlier gestures remain visible beneath new layers, creating complex compositions that invite the viewer to participate in the process of meaning-making.
Catherine Long is an abstract painter based in London. With a background in contemporary dance, her work explores the relationship between gesture, colour, and the body. Long holds a PhD in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited at Matt Carey-Williams, Verduyn Gallery (Belgium), and Huxley-Parlour. Long has completed residencies at Porthmeor Studios, Chisenhale Studios, and Pada Studios in Lisbon. Longs' works are held in private collections across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
